3.0 EARTHQUAKES

In a study of earthquake risk in Jamaica, Shepherd (1971) concluded that on the island of Jamaica "The level of earthquake risk is directly comparable to that in the state of California, U.S.A."
Table 3 lists the significant earthquakes that have occurred in the Jamaican region. Practically all the earthquakes in this region are classified as shallow earthquakes.
The rate of occurrence of damaging earthquakes according to Shepherd (1971) and Shepherd and Aspinall (1980) is highest in the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew with > than 20 earthquakes per century while the western end of the island has a record of < 5 earthquakes per century (Fig.5).